Jesus Christ
' Jesus Christ' is the Son of God. He is often referred to as "Jesus of Nazareth", "Christ", or "Yeshua". Purpose Jesus Christ was sent down to earth to die for man so they would not have to suffer eternal death. He is also the Mediator between God and man. (John 14:6) Life Jesus' mother was Mary of Nazareth, a young Jewish woman chosen by God, announced by the angel Gabriel. Jesus' birth was not a normal one, as He was born by virgin birth. Because God directly put His soul into Mary, Jesus was a perfect man, as He did not inherit Adam's sin. God told Mary and Joseph, whom she was betrothed to, to name the child Jesus. The Census of Quirinius came to pass, and Joseph and Mary went to Joseph's home town in Bethlehem. When they got there, the inns were all full, leaving them with no place to stay. But one innkeeper offered to let them stay in the stable. Mary gave birth to Jesus in the stable and laid Him in the manger. Jesus got baptized by John the Baptist, at around age thirty. He then started to the work God had sent Him to do. Siblings Jesus was the oldest of His half-siblings.http://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-siblings.html Matthew 12:46, Luke 8:19 and Mark 3:31 are among those that mention His brothers. Matthew 13:55 gives names to four of His brothers, which are James, Joses, Simon and Judas. Galatians 1:19 mentions that James, a disciple of Jesus, was one of His brothers. Jesus also had sisters, but the Bible gives no name or number to them (Matthew 13:56). John 7:1-10 mentions His brothers going to a festival, while Jesus stayed behind, and Acts 1:14 says His mother and brothers were praying with the disciples. Death Jesus was not liked by many of the religious leaders, so they brought Him to Pilate so that he might have Him executed, but Pilate did not find anything wrong with Jesus. They continually asked him though, and Pilate finally gave in. In Matthew and Mark's gospels, it was stated that He refused to drink wine mixed with gall, which was a painkiller. The Roman soldiers mocked Him, and gave Him a crown of thorns, and a plate over His Cross that said "KING OF THE JEWS". In the gospels, Jesus said very little at the time of His death, usually not answering when asked questions. He was crucified between two thieves, one mocked Him, and the other defended Him. Resurrection and Ascension Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body to be taken down from the Cross the following Friday. When given permission to do so, the body was wrapped into a clean cloth, and buried into a tomb. Mary Magdalene, a friend of Jesus went to go visit His tomb and when she pushed the stone that acted like a door away, she was shocked to find the tomb's own stone had been pushed away, and two angels near the tomb. It is then discovered that Jesus had risen from the dead. He saw His disciples soon again, and then eventually ascended back to heaven to be seated at the Right Hand of the Father. Names Jesus has many names and titleshttp://christianity.about.com/od/biblestudyresources/qt/namesofgodjesus.htm, including: *Advocate (1 John 2:1) *Alpha (Revelation 21:6) *Amen (Revelation 3:14) *Apostle (Hebrews 3:1) *Author and Finisher of our Faith (Hebrews 12:2) *Beginning (Revelation 21:6) *Beginning of the Creation of God (Revelation 3:14) *Bread of Life (John 6:35, John 6:48) *Brother of James (Mark 6:3) *Brother of Joses (Mark 6:3) *Brother of Judas (Mark 6:3) *Brother of Simon (Mark 6:3) *Carpenter (Mark 6:3) *Chief Cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20) *Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4) *Christ (Matthew 1:16) *Consolation of Israel (Luke 2:25) *Dayspring (Luke 1:78) *Deliver (Romans 11:26) *Door of the Sheep (10:7) *End (Revelation 21:6) *Faithful and True Witness (Revelation 3:14) *First Fruits (1 Corinthians 15:23) *Friend of Tax Collectors and Sinners (Matthew 11:19) *Good Shepherd (John 10:11) *Great Shepherd (Hebrews 13:20) *Head of the Body (Colossians 1:18) *High Priest (Hebrews 3:1) *Horn of Salvation (1:69) *Immanuel (Matthew 1:23) *Indescribable Gift (2 Corinthians 9:15) *King of Israel (Matthew 27:42) *King of Kings (1 Timothy 6:15, Revelation 19:16) *Lamb of God (John 1:29) *Last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45) *Life (John 11:25) *Light of the World (John 8:12, John 9:5) *Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5) *Lord of Lords (1 Timothy 6:15, Revelation 19:16) *Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5) *Messiah (John 1:41) *Nazarene (Matthew 2:23) *Omega (Revelation 21:6) *Passover (1 Corinthians 5:7) *Physician (Matthew 9:12) *Potentate (1 Timothy 6:15) *Prophet (Acts 3:22) *Propitiation for our Sins (1 John 2:2) *Rabbi (Matthew 23:8, John 1:49) *Ransom (1 Timothy 2:6) *Resurrection (John 11:25) *Root and Offspring of David (Revelation 22:16) *Ruler (Matthew 2:6) *Sacrifice (Ephesians 5:2) *Seed of Abraham (Galatians 3:16) *Seed of David (2 Timothy 2:8) *Shepherd and Overseer of Your Souls (1 Peter 2:25) *Son of David (Matthew 15:22) *Son of God (Luke 1:35) *Son of Man (Matthew 18:11) *Son of Mary (Mark 6:3) *Son of the Highest (Luke 1:32) *Teacher (Matthew 23:8, Matthew 26:18) *Truth (John 14:6) *Way (John 14:6) *Word (John 1:1) *Vine (John 15:1) Miracles During His lifetime, Jesus performed miracles, acts powered by God.http://www.about-jesus.org/miracles.htm The ones recorded in the Bible are: *Turning water into wine (John 2:1-11) *Healing an noble's son (John 4:46-54) *Healing a man possessed with demons (Mark 1:21-28) *Healing Peter's mother-in-law (Matthew 8:14-15, Mark 1:29-31, Luke 4:38-39) *Healing sick people during the evening (Matthew 8:16, Mark 1:32, Luke 4:40-41) *Catching many fish (Luke 5:3-10) *Healing a leaper (Matthew 8:1-3, Mark 1:40-42) *Healing a Centurion's servant (Matthew 8:5-13, Luke 7:1-10) *Healing a paralyzed man (Matthew 9:1-8, Mark 2:1-12, Luke 5:18-26) *Healing a man with a withered hand (Matthew 12:9-14, Mark 3:1-6) *Raising a widow's son from death (Luke 7:11-17) *Calming a storm on the sea (Matthew 8:23-27, Mark 4:35-41, Luke 8:22-25) *Healing a Gerasene man who was possessed with demons (Matthew 8:28-32, Mark 5:1-13, Luke 8:26-33) *Healing a woman with internal bleeding (Matthew 9:20-22, Mark 5:25-34, Luke 8:43-48) *Raising Jairus' daughter from the dead (Matthew 9:18-19, 23-25, Mark 5:22-24, 35-43, Luke 8:41-42 49-56) *Healing two blind men (Matthew 9:27-31) *Healing a mute man who was possessed with demons (Matthew 9:32-33) *Healing a man who was sick for 38 years (John 5:5-17) *Feeding 5000 men and their families (Matthew 14:16-21, Mark 6:35:44, Luke 9:12-17, John 6:5-14) *Walking on water (Matthew 14:22-33, Mark 6:45-52, John 6:16-21) *Healing many people in Gennesaret (Matthew 14:34-36, Mark 6:53-56) *Healing a girl possessed with demons (Matthew 15:21-28, Mark 7:24-30) *Healing a deaf man who had a speech impediment (Mark 7:31-37) *Feeding 4000 men and their families (Matthew 15:29-39, Mark 8:1-10) *Healing a blind man (Mark 8:22-26) *Healing a man who was born blind (John 9:1-41) *Healing a boy possessed with demons (Matthew 17:14-21, Mark 9:17-29, Luke 9:37-43) *Causing Peter to catch a fish with a coin in its mouth (Matthew 17:24-27) *Healing a blind and mute man who was possessed by demons (Matthew 12:22, Luke 11:14) *Healing a woman who was sick for 18 years (Luke 13:10-13) *Healing a man who had dropsy (Luke 14:1-6) *Healing 10 lepers (Luke 17:11-19) *Raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-44) *Healing Bartimaeus of blindness (Mark 10:46-52) *Cursing a fig tree which bears no fruit (Matthew 21:18-22, Mark 11:12-14, 20-25) *Restoring an ear that was cut off (Luke 22:45-54) Some other miracles associated with Jesus are: *The Virgin Birth (Matthew 1:18-25, Luke 1:26-38) *The Resurrection of Jesus (Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20, 1 Corinthians 15) *Catching many fish after His resurrection (John 21:4-11) *The ascension of Jesus to heaven (Acts 1:1-11) Promises Jesus Christ has made promises in the Biblehttp://taberstruths.com/gods-promises-in-the-bible/, which are: *Promising rest (Matthew 11:28-30) *Promising to find purpose in life (Mark 8:34-37) *Promising our names are written in heaven (Luke 10:20) *Promising eternal life (John 3:16) *Promising He will return for us (John 14:2-3) Views in the Abrahamic Faiths Judaism Jewish people reject Jesus Christ as the Messiah, with Tractate Ta'anit from the Jerusalem Talmud claiming that 'if any man claims he is God, he is a liar'. The verse Isaiah 44:6 states "Thus says the LORD the King of Israel, and his Redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the First, and I am the Last; and besides Me there is no God." Jewish people recognize Jesus as a false prophet. Christianity Disciples of Jesus are called Christians (Acts 11:26). They have accepted Jesus Christ as the Messiah and try to model their life after His own. They believe in the miracles He did (turning water to wine, walking on water, etc.), and that the prophecy was fulfilled, which is: *The Messiah would be betrayed for thirty pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:13, Matthew 26:14-16). *Slapped and spit on (Isaiah 50:6, Matthew 26:67, 27:26, 27:30). *Stabbed (Psalm 22:16, Mark 15:24-25). *Verbally abused on the Cross (Psalm 22:7-8, Matthew 27:39-43) *Killed without having any of His bones broken (Psalm 34:20, John 19:33, 19:36) Christians believe that through Jesus' death and resurrection, they can have eternal life in heaven. They also believe that Jesus was sent as the 'second Adam'—that Jesus might become a new father of all nations instead of Adam, and that He will come again to 'judge the ungodly'. In most types of Christianity, Jesus is seen as God. Some views, such as the Jehovah's Witnesses, think of Jesus as a very important angel made by God at the time of the Universe's creation.http://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/questions/is-gods-name-jesus/ In Catholicism Jesus is the most respected figure in the Catholic Church. The Trinity is a doctrine that the Church teaches. The Sacred Heart of Jesus is a symbol of His love for God and all mankind. It shows His burning Love through a perishable Body.http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=354503 (First reply) Islam Islam recognizes Jesus as a great prophet, and that He was sent by God to preach the gospel to the Israelites. To become a Muslim, it is required that you believe in Jesus Christ and all other messengers of God. The Qua'ran, the holy book of Islam, mentions Jesus twenty five times. It is believed that Jesus was a Muslim and foretold Muhammad's coming. Muslims do not believe that He was resurrected, because Jesus Himself never said He was, and that He is not the Son of God. Baha'i Faith The Baha'i Faith believes that Jesus is a Manifestation of God, or a prophet. In this religion, prophets are thought of as reflecting God's qualities and attributes, and that Jesus perfectly showed these attributes. Unlike Christianity, however, they believe that the Divinity could not have been contained in one body. They believe in the Virgin Birth and the Crucifixion, but see the Resurrection and the miracles Jesus performed as symbolic. General Sources Holy Bible, general source Bible Gateway general source Jesus (Wikipedia) general source References Jesus—Where He Came From History Jesus—Why He Died Views in the Abrahamic Religions: Christianity Category:Jesus Christ Category:Important Biblical Figures Category:Spirits Category:Humans Category:Characters